Re: Silver Bus Line - Phase III
Holy crap, people, cynical much?!
Yes of course everyone would like for the Silver Line to be a train. Until then, why not try to improve what we already have with money that we have available from the stimulus to do it?
Connecting the Washington Street Line directly to South Station via the surface isn't ideal, but it's a lot more doable than the controversial tunnel that almost everyone on this forum is opposed to.
Route 28 is one of the busiest bus routes in the city, in an area that is underserved by rapid transit. If we can improve that in the next few years, why not?
Of course the details are the hard part. We all know that. Physically separating the bus lanes and having prepayment are probably the two most important things that need to happen. The center bus lanes proposed on Blue Hill Ave I suspect will work better than the curbside lanes on Washington Street. Signal priority is also important, as are queue jumper lanes where separate bus lanes aren't feasible.
It's not perfect, but at least it's a step in the right direction. If you all really want to make this work, you should be diligent engaged citizens and follow this process as it unfolds. Hold EOT and MBTA to task and push for the best solutions with BRT. Don't just complain on a forum that they're incompetant and that a train would be better.
